Comments on: Health Minister On BHB/Dr Donald Thomas

By: blackboy

blackboy — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 03:10:14 +0000

what is HSL?

By: observer

observer — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:14:16 +0000

If the OBA did a quarter of the mistakes the PLP has done this island would have had a riot by now. It is a shame you die hearts just don’t want what is best for all, just the chosen few in their ranks. Sadly we will all feel and your mom’s health care will not be sustainable and where will we go from there?

By: observer

observer — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:06:40 +0000

I could agree with you more, that is why they will not get my vote his time.

By: Petra

Petra — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:44:33 +0000

And I should add – if by some hope the Minister actually reads these comments. Your Interim Performance Management Director is the rudest, most obnoxious man I have ever had the displeasure of having to interact with. There is a reason why the UK Civil Service didn’t want him any more – working for 19 UK health organisations may sound like he knows what he’s doing, but did you ask why he didn’t spend long on each one? hmmmmmm.

By: Petra

Petra — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:24:22 +0000

Sorry Minister but you are absolutely 100% wrong! We the public need to know that we are receiving good quality healthcare at a reasonable cost, therefore the salaries, which are the largest spend area by BHB, ARE the publics business. hiring more and more staff without performance levels increasing, means you just have more staff to do the same, or less work.

To illustrate my point. If you had a bakery and every day your baker made 500 loaves of top quality bread, people would come and eat it, eventually you would sell out of bread every day. If you hired an extra baker, therefore doubling your salaries, but he could only make 200 loaves of inferior quality bread compared to the first baker, you have to increase the cost of each loaf to a level which covers your costs – problem is, your reputation is shot, so people don’t buy anyway, leaving you with massive problems where the “surplus didn’t meet the level of investment”

Business 101!

By: Amazed

Amazed — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:20:07 +0000

I agree that the salaries should be released but the reasons that an individual leaves is none of my business and I dont’t care. I am sure that he is not the olny person to have left the hospital this year.

By: Amazed

Amazed — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:15:50 +0000

Bermudians have been demanding more services for example a choice of oncologist. So if you add services you have to add people to provide those services don’t you?

By: Polly's Family

Polly's Family — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:42:03 +0000

@VULPES – I totally agree with Kathy G – she’s made the most sense on this blog.

My parents have future care and now are receiving good care. We won’t be voting for the OBA because we are afraid of Louise’s statements that we will have less benefits.

By: alicia

alicia — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:29:13 +0000

Actually, the surgeon is sueing over an HSL issue…

By: blackboy

blackboy — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:04:02 +0000

Vulpes, it is people like you that will keep the OBA out. You are frightening with your baseless attacks

By: blackboy

blackboy — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:00:49 +0000

Zane get a grip…
We are talking about MONEY! We have a healthcare system that is too expensive. You are paying cardiologist over 300 thousand a year. Nephrologist and Endocrinologist and Anesthesiologist get the same and the hospitalists are getting greater than 24000 dollars a year. These salaries are out of step with any other country on the planet…How do you justify these expenses. Just because government publishes the costs of proceedures does not justify them. Stop playing with people. Dr.Thomas was flying out every friday and coming back evey monday. He had a car and housing allowances. HE was certainly making more money than the underling doctors. So how much more are we being raped for…The time has come that we want to know. You are a servant of the people we are not your slaves. We want to know how much we are paying of tax payers dollars.
Royal Gazette has published that A Surgeon is suing the hospital. Some suggest that it is because of Dr. Thomas unprofessional behaviour. It is alleged that there are other areas of professional misconduct aswell. Those are minor points what is major is the hiring practices of the hospital and the compensation packages and the justification of these costs. WE are not stupid. WE need to get the PLP out if they dont want to be held accountable.

By: Erasmus

Erasmus — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:56:15 +0000

I am not interested in salaries: I assume that there was a healthy base salary, housing and commissions.

I smell dam,age control on a rat. I am interested to know what was in the minds of our Bermudian leaders? Was there improper political influence in the business model for the new hospital? Why did it suddenly change? Was there any circumventing of established hiring protocols? Has it increase the bricks & mortar expense of the new hospital? Will it impact health care there?

Was there any illegal activity by Dr Thomas?

You must admit that trust is scant after Govt wanted to put this new hospital on the Botanical Gardens?

By: Vulpes

Vulpes — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 10:02:33 +0000

As I see it Cathy, there are five possibilities:

You are clueless.

You are in serious denial.

You are a releative of Zane’s

You are seriously brainwashed in PLP claptrap

Any combination or permutation of the above.

By: Keepin' it Real...4Real!

Keepin' it Real...4Real! — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:27:02 +0000

bunch o hogwash….you people jus don’t get it do you..? Zane’s jus readin wat he’s told to read…he should be the works n engineering minister not health minister…this island is sooooo confused it aink funny anymore…the end.

By: Mad Dawg

Mad Dawg — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:59:15 +0000

Typical excuses for lack of transparency. He’s trying to keep their mistakes quiet.

By: Alicia

Alicia — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:33:25 +0000

If the BHB and ministry of health indicate that they don’t need to release dr Thomas’s salary while he was chief of staff then someone needs to remind them of the bermuda hospitals board act of 1970, whereby it indicates that the BHB has to submit the salaries of the board to the minister 6 months after the financial year ended and this same act defines the board as comprising, in part, of the chief of staff, ergo, dr Thomas’s salary is supposd to be a matter of public record.

Interesting though how he indicates that this conversation shouldn’t bef about salaries but on quality of care… Is that his way of saying that they plan on charging all Bermuda a lot of money for a national health plan that still won’t cover all that a major medical plan does, but they sure will charge you more…

By: Kathy Gee

Kathy Gee — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:51:02 +0000

Louise need to stop her scaremongering. her daughter Susan Blakenley is to run in her seat when are they going to announce this?

By: Robb

Robb — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:48:01 +0000

So the Minister admits that one of the major reasons for Bermuda’s rise in healthcare costs is “increasing the number of employed physicians and other staff” at our ONLY Hospital. Now I know why my healthcare premiums have risen so dramatically in the past few years,10-20% above inflation!